Bus Depot To Be Located In Davie, Not Tamarac

A proposed school bus depot, planned for Tamarac but scrapped amid public objections, is expected to be built on a 20-acre site in Davie.

The Broward County School Board last week approved the purchase of the Davie property for nearly $3.6 million from Broward land owners Hamilton and Miles Austin Forman.

The site is south of Interstate 595 and west of Florida`s Turnpike near West Lawn Memorial Gardens.

School officials said about 150 of the county`s 800 buses would be parked at the new site, to be developed over the next several months.

There are three other bus lots in the county.

The new depot was proposed last year to help accommodate rapid school growth in western Broward. When it was disclosed that it would be located in Land Section 7, a western portion of Tamarac set aside for revenue-generating commercial and light industrial projects, elderly residents of nearby residential developments objected.

They and city officials complained of possible noise and pollution, increased traffic and road hazards. They also argued that the school bus site would generate no tax income for the city and would affect other developers` interest in building in west Tamarac.

``Since the city of Tamarac was not generating the children using it, the residents felt they didn`t want it,`` City Manager John Kelly said.

At that time, the project called for both a bus depot and school maintenance center. School District Operations Director Stan McCall said the maintenance building will be built on a separate site, still being sought in western Broward.

The Davie property is in an area zoned for industrial use. Also, it has direct access to I-595 and State Road 84, which should prevent concerns about traffic that raised alarm among Tamarac residents, McCall said.

Under the terms of the contract, the district also gets the use of eight acres nearby as a temporary bus lot. It will be used until the 20-acre property is developed, officials said.

Broward`s school buses cover about 700 routes, and carry a third of the district`s 180,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12.